The Semi-Fast Service to 1969
I catch snatches of serviced apartment blocks
being unbuilt, rows of terraced houses
resurrecting from a rubble heap
back into their heyday.
As per usual, when the train pulls in to 1999,
I ease on a pair of swimming goggles
to view the gatefold psychedelia
of the total solar eclipse.
The trolley service gets a whole load cheaper
the further I go past the next stop,’82,
where I snaffle bargain packets
of Smith’s Square Crisps.
The last phase of the journey is my favourite:
landscape turning industrial, browner;
the terminus billboards awash
with plum Paisley swirls.
Matthew Paul was born and grew up in South London and now lives in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. His collection, The Evening Entertainment, was published by Eyewear in 2017. He regularly reviews poetry publications, writes essays, and blogs about poetry: matthewpaulpoetry.blog